Town Square

Shop Talk

Original post made
on Feb 5, 2008

NO DISPUTIN' -- IT'S RASPUTIN . . . When Tower Records liquidated its Mountain View store last month, along with its 88 other stores throughout the country, Peninsula music fans felt a loss. But every cloud has a silver lining -- or vinyl lining in this case. The Berkeley-based Rasputin Music by late spring is planning to make the former Tower site at El Camino and San Antonio Road its only South Bay location. "Awesome," followed by an animated air-fist pump, was the reaction of 16-year-old Emma Davis when she heard Rasputin was headed for the Palo Alto-Mountain View border. "I won't have to go to Berkeley anymore. That is so cool," she said. Davis, a Palo Alto High School junior, describes herself as someone who is "insanely in love with music. I'm probably one of the more eclectic collectors." Rasputin is "very special. The people who work there are really friendly, and they know what they're talking about," Davis said. Rasputin currently has seven other stores, all in the North Bay and East Bay. In addition to Mountain View, it plans to take over Tower Records' sites in three other locations: Concord, Fresno and Stockton. When Rasputin first opened in Berkeley in 1971, it quickly developed a cult-like following and became a gathering place for those serious about music. A big part of its popularity is due to the numerous rare and hard-to-find albums and videos offered. The store also hosts live bands.

Posted by patrick joulain
a resident of another community
on Feb 5, 2008 at 12:50 pm

I was the owner of nora's cafe with my wife and we would like to turn the page on this story with my wife .We would like you if its possible to remove this article .
We are agree on certain point , like the fact to open the french bakery and paying the two rents , put us in a very diffcult position .
WE are consterned when the landlord of the buiding could say ""I was devastated, but I had no choice. I had to do it," the day before and the day to close the business with the Sherriff , WE have tried to contact the landlord by phone , i went to her house and she didnt want to meet or discuss with me ,we got the money to pay all the past due but she was determined to close the restaurant and recupare the business , good operation for her , no consideration that we worked hard to make this place busy ,or that we paid the rent for 3 years or that it was christmas ........
I told her that it was a mistake to open the bakery and that we stopped this project to more concentrate our efforts on Nora's Cafe : new menus , employees.....
but she didnt care and wanted my business .

i am not explaining that to have an article but now we would like to turn the page and know if its possible to remove this article

Posted by patrick
a resident of another community
on Jul 13, 2008 at 6:12 am

We worked hard to make the things happened at Nora's in a place where everybody was saying it was difficult and we lost the location for a couple of months not paid , for a couple of $$ that we could and wanted to pay ,without any consideration from the Landlord .

We wanted to extend Nora's with the opening of a Bakery and the things didn't turn as fast as we wanted and we lost the both .....

It has been very difficult to restart after that for my family and we would like to thanks again people who supported us during and after .

Posted by Another victim of Patrick Joulain's
a resident of another community
on Jan 9, 2010 at 4:05 pm

We won a lawsuit in small claims court in AZ. over a year ago and are STILL trying to collect. Mr. Joulain hires trusting, gullible young adults as servers in his restaurant (our daughter being one of them) and then pays them with checks that bounce! [Portion removed by Palo Alto Online staff.]

Posted by carla jetton
a resident of another community
on Mar 8, 2010 at 8:15 am

Patrick Joulain moved to Fountain Hills, AZ and participated in numerous fradulent activities, one of which is against me. He currently has 14 civil suits against him and a criminal charge for writing bad checks. He is currently being held by Immigration and a deportation is imminent. His next hearing is next Wed at 9am in Phoenix AZ.

I wish someone had gone the extra mile in CA so he wasn't set free to repeat his ways in AZ. I lost so much and my family truly suffered because of his broken promises and destruction of property.

Posted by Gordy Caughey
a resident of another community
on Mar 13, 2010 at 9:13 am

Reading this now........makes me feel stupid! I am also a very recent victim. I only know Patrick and Nora as a patron of their restaurant, Boulevard Cafe in Fountain Hills, Arizona. We were regular customers even though the food was very average and they seemed elusive and weird. They eventually declared us their friends and invited us to special occasions.

On Friday March 5, 2010 I was contacted by the French Consulate, requesting assistance for Patrick Joulain. He was detained and incarcerated in Eloy at the Immigration Detention Center. The request was to post a bond so that he would be released,in order to save his cafe and be with his family. I was reluctant and declined but I was again contacted by the consulate requesting my help. That evening I received numerous "collect" calls from Patrick Joulain, now begging for my help. He was "crying". He promised he would pay me back the following day.

I eventually agreed to help as he requested. He called several times after that to make sure I was going to do as I promised. I took time from work without pay on Monday March 8, 2010 to help him. I arrived at the facility with a $1500 money order in hand made out to The Department of Homeland Security. The correctional facility which took on the look of a penetentary, double row razor wire fences, cameras, guards etc. After paying the bond which took several hours Patrick was finally released at 4:00 pm. I took him to Fountain Hills elementary school where he met another French lady that I remember as a a patron at the cafe. She gave him his brief case and a few other items, cameras etc. He seemed very irritated and concerned when he discovered that his I-phone was missing from his brief case. I then dropped him off at his restaurant as he requested, so he could get his car..........which wasn't there. He said all was well and that he would call me the next day and repay me for the bond money as previously promised. He said he could walk to his residence no problem, which I found puzzling since the address on the bond papers described his address in Scottsdale. I have since discovered that the address doesn't exist. I have not seen or heard from him since.......big surprise now that I am discovering his dishonest and criminal ways.

I will do what I have to to see his thrown out of our country. His upcoming court appearance is to defend himself for his expired Visa and commit to fulfilling his obligations to extend his stay here in the United States.

On Wednesday March 10, 2010, a closure notice was posted in the cafe, stating that he was in violation of his lease for non payment, and that the lock have been changed.

If there is any way I can assist in the deportation of this criminal please contact me. Gordy Caughey 480-837-6879

Posted by fred
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Mar 27, 2010 at 3:12 am

if patrick back in france he'll go to the jail for 3 or 5 years by the french court.
before to came in usa patrick was a manager of french restaurant at port grimaud south france and never paid anything and more he take all the money of the restaurant account before to left for the usa.
Patrick joulain like the monney of each people.
however i think parick will have time for make a book of his story same like chritophe rocancourt a french man who took the money to the celebrity at los angeles before to back in france directly to the jail.
soory for my english but i'm french ans i was a victim of mr patrick joulain.
i hope patrick will like the orange clothes.

Posted by yves
a resident of another community
on Feb 17, 2012 at 8:44 pm

To jFlorian Julian. Do you know how much money your parents must payback us more than $40000, that we had lended to get out them of "M...." in which they were. Tears to borrow, promises never held to pay off. Malhonnetes. The lady of the bakery